1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a tufting machine, and more particularly, an improved gate assembly for a tufting machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tufting machines are widely used for manufacturing tufted pile fabrics, such as carpeting. Many such tufting machines include hook and gate mechanisms for creating loops.
Tufting machines have a plurality of yarn carrying needles. During operation the portions of the needles carrying the yarn pass though a heavy fabric to form loops of yarn below the fabric. The hook mechanism has loopers or hooks that are located below the fabric and are oscillated to capture loops of yarn so that when the needles are withdrawn from the fabric, the loop is held below the fabric to form loop pile. Many tufting machines have hundreds of these hooks, typically arranged in one or two rows over the entire width of the fabric.
Some tufting machine include knives that can be selectively actuated to cut loops to form cut pile and gates that can be extended to control whether the loop of yarn is cut by the knife. Conventional tufting machines have hundreds of gates, each of the gates located below one of the hooks. After the yarn is released from the hook by either the gate or the knife, the fabric can be advanced so that the yarn carrying needles can create the next set of loops. As such, the tufting machine can selectively generate both loop and cut pile.
Tufting machines have connectors that are coupled to the gates. Pneumatic cylinders are coupled to the connectors and actuated to move both the connectors and the gates. Due to the actuation of the pneumatic cylinders, connectors and the gates are particular vulnerable to wear, fatigue, and malfunctions.
When the hook apparatus malfunctions, the tufting manufacturing process is stopped for repair. For example, the connector and the gate may become uncoupled resulting in malfunctioning of the gate. If the gate malfunctions by not properly extending, the pile loop will not be released from the hook resulting in the production of flawed fabric. An operator can manually reconnect the connector to the gate.